Rinko has many meanings in Kanji, "Rin" means respectful, ethical, dignified or beautiful sound and "Ko" means children or young girl.
Looks like we have a new set from
SEE AUDIO and this one is quite unusual compared to their previous releases which are either hybrid or all-balanced armature configurations. To be honest, I'm quite a fan of
SEE AUDIO as I owned some of their products like
Yume Summer Edition,
Yume Midnight and
Bravery Limited Edition and my first hybrid set with premium
Knowles balanced armature was a
SEE AUDIO Yume.
This is
SEE AUDIO Rinko, this is
SEE AUDIO's second collaboration project, this time from different audio reviewer personality,
Zeos Pantera of
Z Reviews. It happens that I also did a product review with his collaboration from other audio companies, so let's see what was the concoction tuning result between him and
SEE AUDIO.
SEE AUDIO Rinko is a hybrid driver IEM but this one has different driver configuration. It has one 10mm dynamic driver and one 7mm "planar" driver which is not a true planar magnetic but rather a newer type of flat panel type of dynamic driver that mimics some of the properties and working principles of a planar magnetic driver.
The drivers were encapsulated in a composite shell structure made of metal alloy on its face plate and a 3D-printed acrylic resin mould in its cavity base part (probably moulded by
HEYGEARS). The overall design of its chassis appears to have a smooth finish to give a comfortable wear to the majority of its users. Like all
SEE AUDIO products, it uses a proven 2-pin connector as its interlocking mechanism for its detachable system due to its familiarity and easy to set.
In a similar fashion with other
SEE AUDIO products, it has a fairly good stock cable that complements the aesthetic design of the
Rinko's shell. It had a twisted 4-core, high-purity silver plated OFC cable with 3.5mm SE termination plug.
As for fitting and comfort, it is quite light and it really sits well on my lugholes without any issues so that I can wear them for long listening sessions. Somehow, it is able to block a decent amount of external noises from the outside surroundings to give me a satisfactory passive noise isolation.
SEE AUDIO is one of the few companies that gives a product presentation and
Rinko is no exception that it has a substantial amount of inclusions with eye-pleasing layout.
Here are the following contents inside of Rinko's box:
● a pair of Rinko IEMs
● stock cable
● 3 pairs of Render hybrid eartips in different standard sizes.
● a hard-bound faux leather IEM storage box.
● a round metal pin badge with an illustration of White Rinko.
● a portrait frame of Black and White Rinko.
● PVC contact card.
● Instruction manual.
●** Bonus ** an acrylic stand of White Rinko.
Regarding its amplification and power scaling,
Rinko can be driven on normal gain mode but you will notice that it is sort of lacking in its dynamics. But putting it on better sources with more power output makes the
Rinko a bit different as you will hear a fuller sounding and even more dynamic that makes me wonder why it behaves like a typical true magnetic planar IEM when it comes to required optimum power output.
As for its tonality,
SEE AUDIO Rinko is quite different compared to previous models. This time, it has a V-shaped sound signature where bass and treble frequencies are elevated and more emphasis and noticeable recessed midrange.
LOWS/BASS:
The first observation on the bass response of
Rinko is that it is rather punchy and with authoritative slam as both bass parts are quite capable of delivering on such quantity and quality. Though there are some occasional bass bleeding across the lower midrange frequency.
The sub bass seems to dig deep to produce a good rumble from some tracks with synthesisers, drum machines and low tuned guitar. The mid bass has a rather sufficient texture just to give an ample density of notes on bass guitars, bass kick drums and bass baritone vocals. Bass guitars have resonant yet mellow sounding while bass kick drums have a thudding and eerie sound on every hit. Bass-baritones seem to have a dark and dense tone but I noticed that its a bit hollow with less depth on it.
MIDRANGE:
The midrange presentation is undoubtedly recessed and tad leaner but still delivers a clean and expressive response on female vocals and instruments like strings and woodwinds.
I observe that vocals like baritones, tenors and contraltos have lack of depth, texture and heft and it sounds leaner and lethargic compared to the natural tone of these particular vocal types which should have a dusky, rich and smoky tone. But on countertenors and mezzo-sopranos, I'm actually enjoying and quite mesmerising the vocal clarity of certain artists with the likes of King Diamond (Mercyful Fate), Roland Gift (Fine Young Cannibals), Andreas Scholl, Andrea Corr (The Corrs), Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) and Cecilia Bartoli as they have an agile, glowing and fiery tone from them. Sopranos seems to perform pretty well on Rinko as it has an energetic and bright voice to give more expressive and passionate vocals as they sound bell-like and shining. I enjoy listening to soprano singers in both modern contemporary and classical operas like Mariah Carey, Tarja Turunen, Diana Damrau and Olga Pereyatko.
On instruments, strings like acoustic guitars have a bright and crisp sound while violins have bright and metallic sound, and then harps have a blurring and splashing tone from them. As for woodwind instruments, flutes and fifes have a bright and penetrating sound, piccolos have bright and intense, although sometimes they are a bit piercing, clarinets have bright and brilliant sound and saxophones have a reedy and forceful sound from them. Other instruments like snare drum and kettledrums have a bright, sharp and dry sound while brasses like horns and trombones have a sharp, metallic and jarring noise. Piano tones appear to have a brighter tone than being warm sounding.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
Overall,
Rinko has noticeable boost on upper mids as it gives a crisp and bright vocals and gives an edgier attack on instruments. Although, it is also noted that sibilance is mildly present especially if you play sibilant-laden tracks. Presence range seems to be elevated too as
Rinko has good clarity and better rendering on details. There is a decent airy extension with a sufficient amount of harmonics to give an adequate sparkle and shimmer on Rinko as I'm tracking some tracks to test the quality of cymbals.
Cymbals have a shimmering and glistening tone while hi-hats have a sharp, shortened buzzing sound that gives that distinctive chicky sound. Celestas have bright and shimmering tone, and glockenspiels have tad metallic and brilliant sound.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
It seems that the overall perceived sound/speaker stage dimension is more average. It has an average width, above average height ceiling and sufficient immersive depth to give me a fairly middling head room within my aural sense.
It presents a typical imaging presentation with a two-dimensional stereo as I was able to locate the positioning of vocals and instruments but not in the most accurate manner. It has decent separation but the layering is rather passable as it was able to stack a two-layered tonal and frequency presentation on which it can playback decently on most cases with the exception of more complex, multi-instrumental tracks.
It looks like there's a good cohesive performance on both drivers as they execute it pretty well. Fast transient speed with good handling on decay on both gives a sense of homogeneity and precision.
As for resolution capabilities, both macro-dynamics and micro-dynamics are quite contrasting as Rinko is able to have ample impact on its note weight although compression of some dynamics is quite noticeable on this one while it has a satisfactory detail retrieval capability for a micro flat panel driver.
PEER COMPARISONS:
CELEST PHOENIXCALL
● Both are of hybrid driver set-up with the exception that PHOENIXCALL have additional balanced armatures for midrange to some parts of treble region to add more detail. It takes a form factor of a modified UIEM-style shell chassis made of acrylic resin. Both have excellent product presentations but PHOENIXCALL has more ear tips to choose from.
● As for tonality, PHOENIXCALL has also V-shaped sonic profile like Rinko which quite more warmer sounding which is more beneficial to all male vocal types and contraltos. As instruments particularly on strings, they sound less natural are they are way too warm that gives a "buttery" and warmer tones on guitars and violins. On treble response, they are quite similar but on upper-mids to presence range, it is way boosted to the point causes shrill, sibilance and strident sound.
● On technical aspect, PHOENIXCALL performs pretty well, as it has decently spacious sound field presentation and better imaging. The rest of the technical capabilities are alike with Rinko's.
CELEST GUMIHO
● Another hybrid set from CELEST, it uses a first generation of "square planar driver" which is another pseudo-planar magnetic driver but with lesser degree of having a full range sound as it has limited frequency range that it needs another type of driver which a balanced armature for supporting other frequencies like midrange and treble. It also has a substantial amount of inclusions albeit Rinko has better ear tips, more extra goodies and better storage case but GUMIHO is way more cheaper with more choices of ear tips to choose from.
● As for its tonality, GUMIHO has a mild U shaped sound sig that makes it more neutral and balanced sounding. It has a tighter and hollowed bass response, a more forward midrange presentation but the strings instruments sounds less appealing as they don't have that bright and crisp tone. Treble response seems to have a rather unevenness as it has borderline sibilance then meagre amount of sparkle and air.
● On technical capabilities, GUMIHO has a wider sound/speaker stage proportion but it has a middling performance on driver performance. And also, "BA timbre" is ever more present as it gives off metallic and tinny sound.
Looks like that
SEE AUDIO takes more of an experimental route on this one as they try to adapt modern audio solution technologies like flat panel drivers as they try to get out of its bubble.
SEE AUDIO Rinko is the result of this product development and they even enlist a well-known audio reviewer on YouTube to help out its tuning.
And it looks like that
Rinko somehow achieve those goals despite of its middling tonal performance. And
Rinko appears to starting point of the next generation of
SEE AUDIO product line up and its "planar" driver has it potential on the next releases.
If you simply want a fun, engaging and vivid sound quality with good resolution capabilities then
Rinko suits your preference.
SEE AUDIO Rinko is now available a
HIFIGO, check out the unaffiliated link down below.
★★SEE AUDIO RINKO - HIFIGO★★
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: SEE AUDIO RINKO
IMPEDANCE: 30Ω
SENSITIVITY: 104dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M
PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)
PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm
DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER + (1) FLAT PANEL DRIVER
Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)
Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *
Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **
Mountain - Mississippi Queen *
Queen - Killer Queen **
Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'
Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'
Pearl Jam - Daughter **
Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *
Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*
Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *
New Order - Blue Monday *
The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *
The Madness- Buggy Trousers *
Metallica - Motorbreath **
Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *
Destiny's Child - Say My Name *
Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *
Mozart - Lacrimosa *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *
Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*
Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *
Exciter - Violence and Force *
Diana Krall - Stop This World **
Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*
The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**
Suzanne Vega – Luka **
Lauren Christy – Steep *
Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *
Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*
Type O Negative - Black No.1 *
Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **
Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *
Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *
P.S.
I am not affiliated to SEE AUDIO nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.
Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to LVY YAN of HIFIGO TEAM for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
